Apparatus for filling and capping bottles



April 29, 1930. o. LARSEN APPARATUS FOR FILLIN G AND CAPPING BOTTLES 3sheets-sheet 1 Original Filed March 3, 1924 I fllafLa/rjeng April29,1930. o. LARSEN APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND CAPPING BOTTLES Original FiledMarch 3, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 hwzm'ir OM/f [la/405214 April 29, 1930.o. LARSEN APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND CAPPING BOTTLES Original Filed March3, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 29, 1930 UNITED stars ATE '1':

AGE MFG. COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLIIVOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOISAPPARATUS FOR FILLING AND CAPPING BOTTLES Original application filedMarch 3, 1924, Serial No. 696,456. Divided and. this applicationfi1ed.0ctober I '7,- 1926. Serial No. 139,960.

wvhich this application is a division.

The principal object of the invention is to provide improved automaticconveying means for moving the bottles through-the machine, which isreadily adjustable to all sizes of bottles, which minimizes breakage,and which is efficient in operation.

Other objects andadvantages will appear inthe following description of apreferred I embodiment of the invention, which I have selected forillustration in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood,however,

that various changes inform, construction and arrangement may be made bythose skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as eX- pressed in the appended claims.

- Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 repre sents a central verticalsectional view of the machine, complete except that for clarity ofdisclosure only those of theidentical capping heads, filler valves andbottle elevators are illustrated which are intersected by the plane ofthe vertical section. Fig. 2 is a plan view or" the machine with thetank and upper portion of its support removed at the plane of the line2-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the plane of theline 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Stated generally, the machine as illustrated herein comprises a rotatingreservoir or tank which carries depending discharge tubes with theircontrol valves for filling the milk bottles, and which also outwardlysupports a concentric series of capping heads for the placing of caps inthe mouths of the bottles after they are filled. The bottlesarepositioned during these operations on elevating pistons located beneaththe tank discharge valves and capping devices, the pistons or elevatorsbeing carried by a rotating table revolving in synchroni'sm with'thesupply tank livered to and taken awayfrom the revolving series ofelevator pistons by means of an arrangementof worm conveyors andadjustable guides which first position the successive bottles on theinner portions of the elevating pistons. The bottles are then elevatedinto OLAF LARSEN, OF FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE CREAMERYPACK.-

and its attached devices. lT-he bottles are de- I engagement with thefilling valves during a portion-of the revolution of the synchronizedseries ofpistons-and filling valves. When filled, the bottles arelowered and moved by means of an adjustable guide to the outer portionsof the pistons, whereupon they are again elevated into engagementwiththe capping heads,'.capped, and lowered out of engagement therewith. Thebottles are then moved off from the pistons as they successive-- 'lyreach another guide, before the completion of the revolution of theparticular pistons upon which the respective bottles rest, and:

are directed into engagement with the worm conveyor which moves thebottles outwardly from the filling and capping mechanism to anaccumulating table or upon suitable conveying means for delivering them.wherever desired. The conveying and positioning guides are readilyadjustable for operation upon the severalstandard sizes of milkbottiles. a

The revolving reservoir with its bottle filling'and capping devices, andthe synchro-. nously rotating mechanisms for positioning and elevatingthe bottles to the filling and capping devices, are fully described andillus trated in my co-pendmg appllcation, Serial,

Number 696,456, andare identified but generally herein. The bottleconveying mechanisms are described with particularity hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1, indicates a stationarybasecarrying at one end an upright pedestal 2 upon which is operativelysupported the mechanisms for the filling and capping operations. Mountedon the lower portion of the pedestal is a stationa Y ary annularsupport4 carrying a cam-ring 5 for controlling the operation of the bottlelifting pistons. V

The cylindrical upper portion of the pedestal operativelv supports arevoluble sleeve 8, on the lower end of which is secured a spur gear 11in driven engagement with a pinion 12 mounted on the shaft 13. The shaft13 is driven through the bevel gears 15 and 16 by a m n at-1 7 Mountedonthe sleeve 8 is an annular member 19 in which are operativelysupported he se a -bot l ator p st n od .2 ca rying th bo l suppo tinghead 2 h P tons 23 are supported at their'lower ends upon rollers 29bearing upon the cam ring5. The

member 19 also carries a table 38 flush with ,theltops-ofthexheads-2twhen the latter are in.

lowermost position. V

' Within the pedestal 2 is provided mecha nism for raising and loweringthe overhead supply tank withitsfattached filling valves 'andca-ppingheads to accommodate the varying heights'ofbottles of differentcapacities. An elevating screw 40, having a nonrotatable sliding bearingat48 in the upper end of the pedestal 2, carries a gear sleeve 41 on itslower threaded end portion. The gear sleeve 41'is rotatably su-pportedinthe base of the pedestal, and isin toothed engagement with a pinion 45carried by the shaft-46 operable by a hand Wheel47.

A tank support 50,'-having a verticallyslidable nonrotating bearingsupper-t in the upper portion of the sleeve 8,5is positioned verticallyby the elevating screw 40. The support 50 carries a supply tank fromwhich depend .a series of'bottle filling valves 57, and

upon whichare also supported a series of capping devices 59. The valvesand cappers are positioned in register with the underlying series ofbottle elevating'heads 24.

The varying sizes of bottles are latei ally centered under the valvesand c'appers upon the heads24 -by means of spaced arms 61 and 62 carriedby a spider mounted on the member 19. The spider-60 is'rotatably'adjusted in relation to the heads 24by aflanged sleeve 64connected to the spider 60 and rotatably supported on-the sleeve 8. Acollar 68, secured to the tank support 50, carriesa key 69 engaging aspiral keyway 70 in the sleeve 64. Thus the'vertical movement of thetank effects the lateral movement of the armsfil.

'Milk is supplied to the tank through a pipe 73 and a level-maintainingcontrol valve housed within thescreen 84; V

I The base '1 is extended at one side to support a housing 86 for thetransmission gears structed of spiral blades 88 and 89 mounted respectvely on apairof laterally spaced 1 shafts 90and 91-, positioned aboveand paraland other mechanism hereinafter described.

Surmounting the housing is a flat table 87 pcsitioned'at thesame leve'las the rotating table 38, Mounted'centrally-of this'tabjle-are a pair ofconveyor worms for moving the bottles to andfrom the rotary table andpiston heads w-hereonthe bottles are filled andcapped.

The conveying worms are preferably conlel to the surface of the table 87The shafts 90 and 91 have their outer bearings in a trans- 7 missioncase 92 mounted on the end of the table and extending downwardly into,the housing 85. Thetransmiss'ion gears for driving the worms arepositioned in the casing and comprise a pair of interengagingtransmission gears, of which one is illustratedat 9, 1, mountedrespectively onuthe endsofthe shafts 90 and 91. The shaft 91 alsocarries a'gearl95 engaging the gear 96 mounted on a jack shaft 97carrying also the gear 98, the latter having drive ngagem n withza gear:99 :;moun ed on the drive shaft 100 extending forwardly in thetransmission housing and having drivingconnections hereinafterdescribed.

The inner ends of the worinshafts are op eratively supported by a'block101 secured upon theinner-end of thetable 87, and'having an extension102 protruding overthe rotary. tablet-38 between the paths of theupper-arms 6'1 and lower arms 62 of the revolving bottle positioningspider, the extension 102 being provided with lateral wings 103 and10.4:(see

Fig.2) in which the worm shafts have their respective bearings. Thewings'103 andlo l are formed with angular lateral edges serving asguides in themovement of the bottles to and from .the elevating pistonheads, as hereinafter more fully described. A protectivecover 105preferably is positioned over the adjacent inner portions .of therevolving,

worms andis securedto the gearcasing 92 5 and the block 101, the outersides of the worms'being exposed to receive bottles be-.-

tween the convolutions oftheir spiral blades and slide the bottles overthesurface of' the table 87 to and from the rotary series of elevatingpiston heads.

The bottlesare moved into engagement with the blades 88 ofthe worm whichmoves I the bottles toward the filling mechanism, preferably by means ofa conveyor belt 106, the upper run of which is operated across and uponthe upper surface of the table 87 beneath the two conveyor worms. Thebottles may be dumped from cases upon -'a lateral extension (not shown)ofthe table 87' and manually pushed upon the belt 106, or they may bebrought by other conveying 'means I (not shown) and mechanicallytransferred tothe belt 106.

The belt is operated and'supported by .means herein illustrated ascomprising a pair upper wall of the housing. The belt 106 may betensioned upon the driving roller 111'by means of a pair of idlerrollers 113 pivoted in bearings 114 slidably mounted on the fixed siderods 115, thelatter carrying compression springs 116 tending to forcethe bearings 114 inwardly and causing the idlers 113 to bear resilientlyupon the belt 106.

As the bottles are carried on the belt 106 toward the worm blades 88,they are preferably shifted into single file arrangement before engagingthe worm. A lateral guide bar 117 (see Fig. 2), rigidly secured to thetable 87, extends at its inner end angularly over and towardthe centerof the conveyor belt. Opposite to the bar 117 is-a swinging guide 118extending angularly over the belt 106 and having a reciprocatory motiontoward the opposite portion ofthe bar 117, which effects the shifting ofthe moving bottles without jamming so that they passsingly between thetwo guides toward the conveyor The guide 118 issupported at its pivotedend upon an upright stud 119 mounted on the table 87. A bell crank 120,also pivoted on the stud 119, has one arm adjustably connected to theswinging guide as by the thumb screw and nut 121 threaded through thearm of the bell crank and, swivel- 1y connected to the guide 118. Theother arm of the bell crank 120 is pivoted to one end of alongitudinally resilient connecting member 122, comprising a pair oftelescoping elements and a coiled spring attached at its 1 ends to therespective elements, the other end of the member 122 being connected toan eccentric 123 operating on the worm shaft 90.

-As the bottles engage the spiral blades 88, they are held'in suchengagement by the under passing conveyor belt 106 and are movedlaterally by the blades88' off from the belt to the surface of the table87, where they are then retained in their engagement with the worm by anadjustable lateral guide 124 extending to the rotary table 38. Thebottles are moved by the worm across the tables 87 and 38 to theelevating piston heads 24, the' angular wing 103 aiding in directing'thebott-les into position for engagement-by the arms 61 and 62 of therevolving spider. The bottles are shifted inwardly on the piston heads24 into final osition for elevation intoengagement wit1 the fillingvalves 57 by another adjustable lateral-guide 125 supported on the table87 and-extending between the spider arms 61 and 62. r

The guides 124 and 125 are supported respectively on two sliding blocks126 and 127 which may be shifted by; a single control to position theguides to accommodate either of the several standard sizes of bottles,the guide 124 being adjustable to retain either size of bottle betweenthe worm blades 88, andthe guide 125 being adjustable in cooperationwith the arms 61 'and 62 ofthe previously described adjustable spider tocenter either size of bottle beneath the-filler valves. The block 126 isprovided with ways engaging the parallel slide rails 128 fixed on thetable 87 in angular relation to the axis of the worm conveyor. A bellcrank 129, carried by a pivot stud 130 journaled in'the table 87 has apivoted link connection 131 between one of its arms and the block 126. Ahandle 132, rigidly secured to the bell crank, provides manualmeans foroperating the block 126 on its slide rails. The block 127 also is formedwith a slide way engaging a rail 133 secured to the table 87 anddisposed angularly to the rails 128. The other arm of the bell crank 129has a pivoted link connection 134 withithe block 127 for movement of thelatter on its slide 7 rail. The lengths-of the arms of the bell crankare so proportioned that. theshifting of the'guide 124 to properposition for one size of bottle automatically adjusts the guide 125 forthat size. The guidesmay besecured in either position by means of thepins 135 movably mounted in the block 127 and positionable in selectiveholes in the rail 133 to secure the block against movementi A connectingguide link 136 may be pivotedon the block 126 at the inner end of theguide 124, the link having a longitudinal slot. engaging a pin fixed onthe adjacent end of the block 127 and automatically adjustable with theintermovement of the two sliding blocks;

A further provision against I jamming of the bottlesis operative as thelatter first engage the worm blades 88. There being liability that abottle occasionally may be engaged at diametrically oppositepointsbetween the Y outer edge of the blades 88 and the endof the guide124 and thus damage the machine or bottle, a section 137 of the end ofthe guide guide 124 by a compression spring 139 com fined between a lugonthe section 137 and a similar opposed lug on theblock 126, theadjacent end portion of the guide 117 serving as a normal positioningstop for the swinging i'15 When the bottles are filled and they reach 7section.

the point where they are lowered finally out of engagement with'th'efiller valves they are then carried into lateral engagement with a Itransfer guide 140 disposed in angular relation to the circular path ofthe bottles and shifting the bottles radially outward on the pistonheads 24 as the bottles are 'moved against the guide by the spider arms61 and 62. The bottles are thus positionedin register with the outerseries of capping heads 59.

The transfer guide 140 is adjustable in position for the several sizesof bottles. A laterally extending supportin arm 141 carries the guide,and is centrally plvoted at 142 upon iso 7 porting arm 141. Longitudinalmovementof 'the'bar 144 thus effects the swinging of the transfer guide140 to the desired position.

To securexthe guide140 in selective posi-' tions, thebar 144 issupported at its-outer end 7 in a bracket 147 rigidly secured to the barand V slidably positioned in a longitudinal slot'148 in the upper wallof the block 101, the latter 7 being of centrally open construction. Asliding plate 149 is, positioned above the wall of the'block 101,overlying the slot 148 and having a guide portion extending into theslot slightly spaced from the upper end of the bracket 147. The bracketis supported on the plate 149 by means of a pair of beaded screws 150the latter being vertically movable in the plate 149 while securing'thebracket and plate against relative lateral movement. The bracket 147 isprovided. with lateral flanges underlying the upper wall of the block101,

' and, by operation of a thumb screw 151, passing freely through theplate and threaded into the bracket, the plate and bracket flanges maybe clamped rigidly to the wall of the block, thus securing the bar 144against movement; The-selective positions of the plate 149 preferablyare determined by a pair of lift vpins 152 mounted in the plate andadapted to be dropped into selectively'registeri'ng holes in theunderlying wall of the block 101, each of the holes being located toproperly position the guide 140 for one size of bottles.

As the bottles are being shifted outwardly over the piston headsby thetransfer guide 140, they are prevented from over running their properposition by a counter guide 153 (see Fig. 2) which ispivotally mountedat one end on a vertical pin 154 carried by a bracket 155 secured to thetable 87. The

guide 153 is laterally swingable between the spider arms 61 and-62, andis resiliently actuated to the limit of its adjustable position by meansof a compression spring156 confined between a depending lug on thebracket 155 and a suitable abutment on the guide 153. The inwardmovement of the guide is adj ustably limited by a screw 157 pivotallyattached to'the guide 153 and extending freely through a lug on thebracket 155, the outer end of the screw carrying a thumb nut 158 bearingupon the lug. Preferably the spring 156'is positioned about the screw157 and bears against the lug supporting the screw. By

adjustment of the thumb nut 158, the guide 7 153 may be positioned forco-operation with with thebevelled gear 198, mounted on the journaled inthe table 87.

the guide 140 for properly positioning any size of bottle.

After the bottles have been raised into engagementwith the capping heads59, capped and againlowered, they are carried into engagement wit-h'thestationaryangular guide 104 which shifts them off from the piston headsand the rotary table 38 into engagement with the spiral blades 89 of thesecond worm conveyor, the latter operating to slide the filled andcapped bottles outwardly over .angularly disposed slide-rails 161secured to the table 87. The'guide'159 and its support--- ing block maybe moved into-the proper relation to the guide 104 and the spiralblades. 89 for any size of bottles, by means of a link '162 pivotallyconnected at one end to the block 160 and at the other end to a crank163 rigidly mounted ona vertical pivot stud 164 The lower end of thepivot stud 164 carries a crank 165 (see Fig.1) positioned beneath thetable and connected by the rod 166 toa crank 167 mounted on theextendedlower end of the pivot stud 130 carrying the manual control handle 132.The machine operator is thus enabled to adjust coincidently the threeguides 124,125 and 159 atone operation to either size of bottles, thepins 135 securing the adjustment when made.

Upon passing beyond the retaining guide 159, the filled bottlesaccumulate on the outer end of the table 87 conveniently for theoperators inspection and their replacement in cases. Guard rails168 and169 prevent the bottles from being. carried off the table by the A belt106, or it may be desirable to remove the guard 169 and conveythebottles away from the table for inspection and casing.

As illustrated herein, the machine is operated primarily by a motor 170belted to a driven pulley 172 operating a conventional speed reductiontrain of gears housed in the case 174, and by which a main drive shaft187 is driven, the latter being connected with the drive shaft 17 as bya coupling 193.

A rearward extension of the main drive 7 shaft 187 carries a bevelledgear 194 meshing with another bevelled gear 195, .(see Fig. 1)

mounted on the upright shaft 196 having its bearings in a'suitableextension of the trans-' mission case 174 and carrying atits upper end abevelled gear 197, operati'vely meshing shaft 100 driving the worm andbelt conveyors.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a stationarytable, a helical blade rotatable on a horizontal axis adjacent thesurface of said table, said blade being adapted to laterally receivebottles between its convolutions and slide them along the surface ofsaid table, a retaining guide positioned laterally of a portion of saidblade, and a belt conveyor positioned on the surface of said tablebeneath and transversely of said blade, said conveyor being operable tocarry bottles into engagement with said blade and so retain them untilengaged by said retaining guide.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a table, a pair of rotatablehelical blades positioned over said table adapted to receive bottles ofselective sizes between their convolutions and move the same across saidtable respectively to and from the adjacent ends of said blades, a pairof retaining guides respectively arranged to laterally retain thebottles in engagement with said blades, a pair of blocks respectivelysupporting said guides and slidably supported on said table, a pair ofcranks pivoted on said table, each of said cranks having a linkconnection with one of said blocks, and operative connections be tweensaid cranks whereby said guides may be simultaneously adjusted to aselected size of bottle.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a table, a rotatable helicalblade adapted to laterally receive bottles between its convolutions andmove them across said table, a belt conveyor operable beneath andtransversely of saidblade, a stationary lateral guide angularly disposedover said conveyor, an oppositelyr positioned laterally swingable guideextending angularly over said conveyor, said two guides cooperating toshift bottles on said conveyor into single file for engagement with saidblade, and means for reciprocally moving said swinging guide. h I1:1witness whereof I have hereunto set my OLAF LARSEN.

